My Weight Loss Journey

Thursday, October 20, 2011

I am sorry I have been MIA for so long....my life has become a daily count-down/struggle to when I am officially done with Cosmetology school. Seriously......I have a daily planner and I cross off each day. December 16th is my last day and I will be officially done with school and I will be SOOOOOOOOOOO glad.

To up-date you all.....I was able to transfer to WITC in Rice Lake, WI. School started August 21st and at first it was fine....but it didn't take too long to realize that things were done very different there and I would have a daily struggle trying to figure it all out. I am finally settling in after 8 weeks and am starting to understand the flow there. It's not the teachers fault or the schools......it's just that I learned the Milady curriculum and they teach pivot point there which is a bit different, and they use a different color line also then what I learned at Mid-State. But I am so thankful that I was able to transfer, otherwise, I would be in Rapids right now instead of being home in my beautiful new home with my wonderful husband every night.....so, I am grateful....but very STRETCHED!!!!

But on a happier note, I am hoping that it will make me a better stylist right out of school because, any salon I work in will not have the comforts of school and I will be learning new things everyday. So I feel this will give me an edge in the scheme of things.

Well, enough about the boring stuff and onto the fun things going on here at our new homestead. Our bloodhound dog, Klara, is growing like a weed and from the photo above you will see that. It's so funny, she has taken over a chair I have in the garage. My plan for this chair (which I got at a thrift store last summer) is that I am going to have it recovered and I am going to use it as a desk chair. I have the fabric and everything. But, for now, she is keeping it warm for me until I can find time to take it somewhere to have it recovered. She is such a doll and we love her very much!!!!

And as you can see.....the chickens are growing like weeds too. The roosters are starting to crow....it sounds like someone is getting murdered in the coop when they crow right now, but bless their little hearts.....everyone has to start somewhere. I am hoping they get better at it soon but until now, it makes me laugh. I am also hoping the hens start laying eggs soon, farm fresh eggs will taste so good........can't wait for that and either can my kids. And as you can see, my little dumpling boy (my grandson Carson) loves the chickens, he is my little chicken buddy:)

Well, hopefully I will keep up with the posts....they may not be long, but somethings better then nothing......... right. I want to also say that I miss sewing so much and hope to be at my sewing machine creating soon and have creations to share with you all:)

Monday, July 18, 2011

Life on our new homestead is anything but boring these days that's for sure. With the addition of our 25 chickens and our bloodhound pup, who is the size of a small pony I may add, Brent and I have been kept very busy and entertained this past week.

First off, I have and update.....we changed the name of our dog. Brent told me on Saturday that he was having a hard time calling her Nettie and that he liked the name Annabelle. So.......I was not crazy about the name Annabelle, and he was not fond of the name Nettie....we compromised with each other and named her a name we both liked which was "Klara". So her name is now Klara and she seems to respond to it already:) and besides it goes really nice with her brothers name which is Karl......Klara and Karl so cute I think. I will have to say that it is kinda confusing because my daughter's name is Kara...so we have Kara, Klara and Karl now...what a tongue twister.

Brent holding one of our chickens....look at her beautiful wings.

The chickens will be 2 weeks old on Thursday and they are getting so big. They are losing their fluff ball look and growing real feathers on their wings and their tails. I am starting to ween them off their heat light during the day and they seems to be doing fine with that. The reason for that could also be because it has been 90 to 95 here during the day so who needs a heat light right....but anyway, I think this weekend we are going to put them in the chicken coop which will be good because I would really like to have my garage back so I can set up my tables for the garage sale which I am planning to have August 5th, and 6th.

Chickens all huddled together.....what cuties

Karl and Klara playing in the pool together....how cute!!!!

We stopped over at my daughter's tonight....we bought her dog Karl (who is also Klara's full brother) a swimming pool to cool off in during these hot days we have been having here lately. We bought Klara a pool also and she LOVES it. It is so funny to watch them play and drink from their pools....the little things in life make them so happy.

They found a piece of rawhide to chew on but they kept fighting over it, we laughed so hard watching them two. I LOVE the look on Karl's face....bloodhounds have the sweetest faces and the kindest eyes, they totally can melt your heart with their eyes.

Here is Klara in Brent's truck after arriving home from Kara and Trav's house after her fun time playing with her brother Karl. She really didn't want to get out of the truck....she loves Brent's truck and spralls out in the back seat like she owns the place.

After we got her unloaded from the truck....I watered a few trees and of course Klara was front and center. She loves drinking straight out of the hose.....never a dull moment with ole Klara.

After we spent some time playing with her in our yard, it was time for us to cook supper and for that....we have to put Klara in her kennel or else we get nothing done. Brent carried her down there tonight....it was so precious!!!!!

Here she is being carried like a little princess to her kennel.

Look at that face and if you look hard, in the background, you can see her kennel. That kennel is such a blessing when we have things to do and can not be watching her constantly. She seems to like it in there which is good....her pool is in there and also her dog house which she goes in off and on during the times she is in there. She may bark or whine a little when we first put her in there but it does not last long at all which is good because I don't want her driving the neighbors crazy or us.

At night she sleeps in the house in a large kennel which we put in our laundry room. She is starting to learn her boundaries but we have a LONG way to go with her on that. She is so big, sometimes we forget that she is still a puppy. Anyway, after supper, we let her out of her outside kennel, played with her in the yard for about an hour. Then brought her in the house and put her to bed in her own little space in the laundry room and she is sleeping like a baby as I type...what a good girl we have:)

Last but not least I will leave you with a picture of our garden. It has really been growing during this heat wave which is so fun to watch...it really seems to grow over night sometimes. We had cucumbers and radishes out of the garden tonight for supper and they were delicious!!!

Well, that's it for now....hope all is well with all my blog buddies....until next time.....God Bless, Rhonda

Tuesday, July 12, 2011

The Spooner Rodeo was in town last weekend, and we were front and center Thursday and Friday night. The Rodeo is something I look forward to every year. But when the Rodeo comes to town, it also means summer is 1/2 over, bummer. Anyway....it was so fun spending time together walking around the Rodeo grounds and enjoying the Rodeo together. The above picture is of Brent and I before the Rodeo started.

My beautiful daughter Kara and my handsome son in-law Travis

Jessica (one of Kara's friends), Kara, Trav and Brent before the Rodeo started looking forward to a fun time.

The Spooner Rodeo

Saddle Bron riding

Bareback riding

One of the acts this year was the One Arm Bandit. He rode his horse totally off his legs while herding his buffalo around the arena. And at the end of his performance, he herded them onto the top of his trailer...it was pretty cool.

One of the buffalo

The One Arm Bandit on top of his trailer

His buffalo on top of his trailer

***************************New Family Members

We have been plugging away here trying to get our yard finished and also the house organized. It has been a slow process as far as the unpacking and setting up the garage sale, but it is slowly happening.

I do have some exciting news, last week we added to our family.....25 Road Island chickens and a 5 month old 60 pd female Bloodhound pup. We named our puppy Nettie and she is a complete sweetheart. We named her after my favorite client at school, (I have a picture of her and I together in my last post) she is 94 years old and the sweetest lady you will ever meet. Brent has wanted a bloodhound for years and on Sunday he finally got his wish. My daughter Kara and her husband also bought one of the puppies......they bought a male and they named him Karl. He is a bit busier then Nettie or should I say A LOT busier....but Kara and Trav are handling it wonderfully and they love him very much. He even sleeps with them in their bed, I don't know how they all fit......uh youth is all I can say to that:) Nettie on the other hand, sleeps in her kennel in our laundry room. I have been dog-sitting during the day for Carl while they are at work so Nettie has had company during the day. They play and sleep all day in the kennel outside. That kennel is a blessing seeing that I will not let the dogs run through my house like wild animals. I told Brent, and he agrees, we worked way too hard on our house to let a dog ruin it. So, we are working on setting boundaries and learning manners. She is a very smart dog and seems to be a fast learner.

Here is Kara with her dog Karl

Brent with our not so little little girl

Nettie and Brent

And here are our 25 feathered friends, I have 21 hens and 4 roosters. They are growing so fast....I got them last Thursday, they were a day old. And today they are 6 days old and are already getting tail feathers. They are in a box under a heat light in our garage, but will be put out if the chicken coop soon. Can't wait to start gathering my eggs someday:)

Cute little chickies

Here they are growing like weeds....they are so fun!!!!All these new adventures are filling our new homestead with love and happy memories and I am looking forward to many more to come!!! I LOVE being HOME!!!!

I am hoping to get my sewing room set up soon so I can start sewing up a storm.....I MISS SEWING SO MUCH!!!! Still waiting to hear about what is going on with my transferring to Rice Lake so I can finish up school....will keep you all posted on that.

Well, better get going so I can get something done today before I have to go to work. Oh, I don't know if I have mentioned that....I am waitressing at a bar/restaurant called "What The Heck". We have been very busy and I pretty run my butt off at work......oh well, the money is good. My daughter, Alyssa, works there too so I get to spend time with her at home here and at work which I LOVE!!!!!

Tuesday, June 28, 2011

I finally have internet and am so happy!!!! Life has been good but very busy. I have been trying to unpack boxes, organize the house and get ready for one of my many garage sales I am planning for this summer. I will have to say, that the unpacking is overwhelming and going very slow, can't wait til it's done. I am finding a lot of treasures I forgot I had which is kinda fun....but I can not believe that I have so much stuff and either can my husband. He is not as excited to see some of my long lost treasures as I am:) I told him that I will NOT be moving again....so don't ever ask me again....he agrees.

I have been trying to register for school in Rice Lake, WI so I can finish up the hours I have left so I can graduate from Cosmetology school. I have a total of 439 hours left (I need 1800 hours to graduate), I just want to get school done with so I can get to work. The transferring to Rice Lake is not going as smoothly as I was hoping it would...so I am prepared to head back to Wisconsin Rapids, WI to finish my schooling in the Fall if need be. I don't want to do that....but I have comes to terms with it I guess. Anyway, the picture above is a picture of me and one of my favorite clients at school. Her name is Nettie and she is 94 years old. I gave her a set and style every week and she was always so sweet and as sharp as a tack. She never forget anything we had talked about the week before....I, on the other hand, sometimes had to rack my brain to remember.

Here is a picture of a storm on the horizon at our house....the colors were so awesome I had to get out my camera.

Another look at the storm clouds.

Gorgeous!!!...I know I am weird

I finally have a garden after waiting 10 years. The picture above is a pic of my husband dozing a spot for it...thanks you sweetie!!!!

Small beginnings here....the ground is so rockie here, he had to dig out the garden spot and then put screened black dirt back in the hole. I was a lot of work but sooooo worth it.

A view with the garden spot ready to plant in the distance.

And here we go....my daughter and son in-law came over and helped us plant our garden which was such a BIG help. That's my daughter, Kara, with her planter planting my beans....she has become a pro at gardening and I appreciate her help so much!!!!

And here is our garden now...this picture was taken yesterday. As you can see, things are coming along nicely but slowly. It is suppose to be really hot here the next couple days so i am sure that will get things growing.

We have a beautiful blackberry patch by the garden which I love!!!! As you can see, there are going to be lots of blackberries this year. I will just have to beat the bear to them though:)

My husband dug a small pond down by my garden too, we are seeing how much water it will hold. But we think we will probably have to put a liner in it and will have to keep it full with the hose. I will be a nice place to the animals to come and get a drink. I am also going to plant some flower around it.

And here is my chicken coop. I ordered 25 chickens and they should be here next week....so excited!!!!

My garden with my chicken coop in the distance.

Another view of my garden.

Here are some pictures of my front porch.

I love to sit here and relax. I found this awesome gate at an antique store and am hoping someday to have my husband make me a fenced in flower garden (fenced in because of the deer) and use this gate for the entrance.

My front porch

I love this planter, I put the ferns in there and thought they looked so cool. And that old bike seat I found in the woods....love it!!!!

This little wagon I found at a place here in Spooner called The Rusty Bucket. They have lots of prim items there.....I love that store.

I found this little wagon at a garage sale for $7.....could not pass it up...LOVE IT!!

Another picture of my antique gate.

Last by not least....the back yard of our house. My husband has been working very hard on getting our yard done. He planted grass seed last week so hopefully we will have green grass soone. It is suppose to be really hot here today so we are hoping that it does not all burn up the young grass before it gets a change to grow. Yesterday, the drug the sprinkler around the yard all day trying to prepare the grown for the heat....we will see what happens.

Today I am going to babysit my 2 little grandsons Noah and Carson. I am so excited!!!! We are going to go to Hayward to spend the day with my Mom, should be a fun day. I better get in the shower and get ready for the day. I am glad to be back blogging and expect to see more updates from me soon. Blessings, Rhonda

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About Me

I am a christian woman who loves Jesus with all of my heart. He has blessed me with 3 children, a son Kasey 29, a daughter Kara 25 and a daughter Alyssa 20. They are the joy of my life. I have 3 grandsons Noah 3, Garrett 9 months, and Carson 8 months. I am married to a wonderful, kind and gentle man who treats me like a queen. I am truly a BLESSED woman.